User:Sanjaimoothedan

Tippu Sultans invasion of kerala and the defence of the mother land by Moothedan Militia

Moothedans were the first and the only family militia formed to protect their mother land in the label of  Syrian Christians in 18th century. In the early 1780’S the rumor and the threat of Tippu Sultans invasion of Travancore and Cochin was high and imminent. Being a wealthy and influential person among the Syrian Christians The Raja of Cochin requested help from the aristocratic noble person  Mr.Varghese Mappillai (moothedan varkey senior) against the invading Tippu Sultan. "Varghese Mappillai" was the prominent leader of the wealthy Moothedan family and the tax collector for the areas around Chalakudy. The moothedans were based in Pariyaram near Chalakudy river. They were well known for their bravery and the Moothedans family through their spice trade was in good relations with British,Dutch and the French nationalities. The family was in possession of good number of Guns and vast quantity of gun powder. All the family members were sharp shooters and hunting wild animals in the forests were their hobbies. The bravery and fearlessness were the icons of Moothedans

On the request from the Raja of Cochin the Varghese Moothedan   organised a militia of around 100 Gun men mostly  from the moothedan family itself and started training  in the forest near Kanjirappily on the banks of Chalakudy River. As a true patriot Varghese Mappillai was engaged in the early  battles against Hyder Alis invasion in 1767. Hearing the the news of Tippus troops planning to move out from Palghat fort, Varghes Mapillai sent all his female family members and the children to the secret hideout near Vettilapparai close to Athirappilli water falls. Varghese mappillai and his selected 30 horse mounted musketeers moved towards to confront and slow down the troop movement advancing towards the northern gate of the nedumkottai in Chalakudy. The militia musketeers moved north and set a trap at the Kuthiran heights between Palghat and Trichur. The Tippus troops were descending down  through the narrow  mountainous terrain of  Kuthiran heights. Varghese Moothedan and his group of militia stationed secretly at  the top of the Kuthiran  looking down at the chicken neck position of Kuthiran. When the troops moved almost half way the thirty muzzle loaded guns roared simultaneously taking 30 lives of Tippus force. The unexpected volley of fire caused panicking in Mysore army.While the panicked and stunned Tippu's force were trying to take cover, the gunners fired  second volley of gunfire with the additional  reserve loaded guns. The Moothedan militia gunners started loading the black powder guns for the third round of fire their helpers rolled down the boulders from the heights  of Kuthiran. The continuous fire and the fall of heavy boulders caused stampede and heavy loss on the troops of Tippus.

After their initial confusion Tippus Gunmen's fired back at the hidden positions of the heights of Kuthiran and Tippu sent small teams of men to climb the uphill to track them. The Tippus force started positioning the canons to blast the hideout at the top of Kuthiran. Following this Varghese the leader of the militia  signaled retreat  and lighted the gunpowders he loaded behind the rocks to create a heavy blast. The militia retreated and reached ahead of Tippus force  using the short cut roads to  Pariyaram in Chalakudy. This guerrilla attack on Tippus troops took the lives of many dozens of Tippus troop men and the final blast of the rocks caused a heavy blockade due to the fall of heavy  boulders. This caused a delay of 2 days to remove the boulders in the narrow lane and give some breathing time to finish the speedy construction of the Nedumkottai.

As the Tippus army was marching towards the Nedumkottai the protective wall built jointly by the Raja of Cochin and Travancore,the Militia leader Varghese Mapillai and his 100 musketeers joined the main forces of Raja of Cochi and Travancore at the Nedumkottai in preparation for the main battle. In 27th December 1789 the Tippus large force attacked the fortifications at the Nedumkottai. The northern gates of the Nedumkottai was at Kottamurri(now Muringoor) at the banks of Chalakudy river. On 28th December the large flanks of the Nedumkottai defence fallen. A 16 feet wide and 20 feet deep ditch separated the Kingdom of Travancore from Mysore forces. The troops of Tippu Sultan started leveling up the ditch to push through the Nedumkottai lines. At this crucial juncture of the battle Varghese Mappilai though he was wounded, mobilized half of his gunners to start firing at the  soldiers who were trying to fill the ditch. Meanwhile Tippu ordered his other troops to push through a narrow gap formed in the Nedumkottai. Unable to fill the ditch under heavy fire from the enemy, Tippu ordered his soldiers to march forward through a very narrow passage. This move backfired on the Mysore force.As the soldiers of Tippus push through this narrow gap Varghese Mappillai ordered his other Gunners to confront them in close combat. The gunners along with the Nair Padayalees(soldiers) from the Nandyat kalari under Vaikom Padmanabha Pillai ambushed their enemies half-way. The moothedan militia gunners at the forefront started firing at the soldiers at close range. A few dozen Mysore soldiers died of direct gun-fire, and the commanding officer was killed. This strategic and brave move by the moothedan militia and the Nayar Padayalees caused heavy stampede and panicking among the Tippu lines and hence Tippu lost the battle that day. Later by the end of January Tippu brought more reinforcements and big canons from Mysore and the Nedumkottai fortifications were fallen completely due to the heavy blast from the big canons.The joint forces of Travancore and cochin retreated to Alwaye. However the militia of Moothedans continued their surprise firing volleys at the stationed troops at the banks of river Periyar in Alwaye due to heavy monsoon. The moothedan militia were continuously harassing the tippus troops till their final retreat to Mysore after the news of East India company attacks in Mysore.

Among the 100 militia man only 60 were there to return back to homes at the end of 1790. Varghese Moothedan Mappillai lost his elder son Ouseph and his the third son Loovees the left hand and right hand in the battle. The elder son and the third son died at the ages of 34 and 30. It was the Loovees grand son  Jacob Moothedan(who was known as BA Karan) later became the first Graduate in the Cochin Praja Rajyam. The Raja of Cochin honored Varghese Moothedan with the title of Padayatti (the commander). The descendants of Varghese Moothedans known as Padayatti Moothedans who are different from the other families of Moothedan, Moothedath and Moothedam families. Most of his 6th generation family members still own a licensed gun as a heritage custom and tradition.